Fallout - Junker's Paradise
by Prophet Roast Inc
Summary: The mojave Wasteland found peace in the form of New Vegas. The Downtown DC is establishing a new order. In the midst of the Northwest the area surrounding the Great Lakes is suddenly shaken by the reemergence of a ghost from the past. This is the story of 'The Scavenger' a man who
1. How to hunt a Scavenger

Zug Island was a small place next to the former great city of Detroit. Though not directly attached to the city, it was a place known for it's industry and materials. When the great war took place many of the resources of the city and it's surrounding area were taken to manufacture weapons and technology needed to win.

In the end as fire rained down from the skies, the only thing left in the memory of a once great nation and city was ash, fire, and brimstone. Lifetimes have passed, and the area surrounding the Great Lakes has become a bit more civiilized after decades of hard work and struggling. The area once known as Zug Island has fallen into nothing more than an uninhabitable junkyard known as the 'Zug Lands'. Several years ago the Zug lands were taken over by a man everyone has their own mystery for him.

The Junkman, the dirt warden, even the bottomfeeder. The people who trade with him have come to understand and work alongside him all these years. As for everyone else he's simply known as the 'Scavenger'.

[2325]

"Vault 59 was one of the most precious and amazing technological marvels designed by vault-tech industries. The peo-pe-pe-peeeeeeeewwww" A single robotic voice jumped outside of the grey screened pip-boy just as it's wearer dragged a heavy spider-like legged machine with a single blinking eye attempting to beep through heavy static.

"Robo-Bud...M...X...G..." Between the beeps and the pings it was hard to make out anything that the broken machine was saying. Like so many other machines that laid in the junk heap that was the Zug Lands, this robot was thrown here after someone found it and realized all the scraps inside weren't worth much. As the machine kept attempting to plead for something, his carrier wasn't all too impressed with his cries.

Inbetween the dragging of the oversized robot by one of his legs and fiddling with his broken pip-boy, Scavenger wasn't exactly in his highest of moments when he noticed the visitors from the otherside of bridge. The bridge to the Zug Lands was once a beautiful railroad that went by day and night, inviting people into the industrial marvel. Now it was reduced to rusted old run down walkway.

Every high noon the men and women from places as close as the Southern Front to as far away as the Downlands come to the island in an attempt to find something of use to trade with the Scavenger. The caravan that came today didn't have any noticable features or symbols. They wore thick heavy armor similar to the older class of Power Armors he'd dug up and fixed.

A series of blue lights and fine coloring seperated this power armor from the one's he'd come across shined brightly showing the three men walking towards him in their heavy arms. As they reached the edge of the bridge the Scavenger waved the group in giving them the global signal that he was ready to do business with them at any point in time.

As he rose his hand up for another series of waves one of the larger men of the group stopped and pulled for something off of his backpack. Giving himself a bit of time to look a bit closer, the Scavenger noticed a single bright light appearing from the pack on the man. In his hands was a large cannon unlike anything that he'd ever seen. In a matter of seconds the Scavenger was taking off as fast as he could, knowing all too well that the light could be his end.

The last thing the Scavenger noticed was a large blue and red bright light falling down from overhead, rendering everything around him black. The last thing he remembered before the area was devoured into a deep darkness was an intense ringing.

"You think this is any good?" A single voice awoke the Scavenger from his painfully long rest. Opening his heavy eyelids, the Scavenger noticed the rusted and heavily damage insides of a Tank cockpit. The memories of the attack that he'd been apart of some time ago. When the bright flash of light was fired from the three men who'd showed up to the Zug Lands, the Scavenger thought as fast as he could and hide himself inside of one of the broken bodied tanks. The thick skin of the metallic behemoth could survive a point blank shot from a fatman, but was almost torn apart by the heat from whatever it was that he'd been struck with.

Another series of voices were heard outside of the tank, making the Scavenger jump up to his feet attempting to get out. His legs were unfortunately tripped up by those of the broken robot he'd dragged with him the entire time. "Dan-dange-ger Rob-" The machine was trying it's hardest to warn him of the painfully obvious as the Scavenger gripped one of the legs of the machine and dragged it with him outside of the tank. The two managed

Attempting to figure out how much time had passed, Scavenger looked at his pip-boy only to see the time 12:00 flashing like it always did whenever the thing broke. The noise of his pip-boy repeating it's built in message every fifteen minutes combined with the over the top screeching of the machine he'd been dragging with him, were quickly drowned out by the noise of the two raiders looking through the remains that were once his living shack.

One was armed with what looked like a poorly kept laser rifle, and the other with some sort of bolt action rifle. The two were poking through smoldering ash and a series of containers attempting to find something of worth. "I can't tell the difference between these scraps of metal and crap." One of the raiders with a dark orange mohawk took his laser rifle and poked against the container attempting to check it's contents. The other younger man with a half shaven orange head took his rifle and continued to survey the area. "Hurry it up. We don't get back in time, boss is gonna' take our heads."

Crouching down as far as he could, the Scavenger took ahold of the machine he'd been dragging alongside him all this time and brought it overhead. In a heavy swing, the Scavenger managed to connect with the face of the lookout just as he turned to see the single blinking light on the side of the robot. Upon hearing the loud thud, the mohawk wearing individual turned only to find himself catching a single bullet in the side of the head. The Scavenger quickly took ahold of the laser rifle, and put his first target out of his misery.

Holding onto each rifle and fastening them onto his back, the Scavenger began to survey the area attempting to see what had happened. What little that wasn't junk before, sure as hell was now. The shack that the Scavenger once used as his home was destroyed. Rubbing away at his eyes and looking at the remains of his life he could only turn dragging a single long legged robot.


	2. The Rouge River

Rougetown was the closest place to the Zug Lands. Once prided as a place with a beautiful river running alongside it. The now contaminated river is a bane for many travelers and a great fear for most of the residents. The one's who weren't lucky enough to received purified water often take their chances with the irradiated water and run the risk of ghoulification, and with that a sentence to the Downlands.

Roguetown was pretty selfish and full of itself when it came to the outside world. If it wasn't for the Scavenger's ability to trade them for the things they needed, many of the citizens would have been done with him years ago. Pulling himself towards the entrance of the gateway that Roguetown had constructed, the Scavenger was stopped by one of the guards. Two Mr. Handy equipped with a series of weapons that had been scavenged by the Scavenger himself.

"Greetings Mister 'Scavenger' what brings you to Rougetown today?" The robots spoke in a poorly designed voice that made them sound loud and slow. "Here for work." The Scavenger spoke in short sentences as he always did, never willing to waste more time speaking than he had to. This was the normal speech he'd been giving for months to the robots. They were designed to understand that so long as the Scavenger was there for work, he was allowed inside.

As if they were breaking the two machines began to fizzle and shake heavily before letting out a long beep. One of them answered by screaming 'Error' at the top of it's mechanical lungs. Before he could get any closer to the machine and see what it's problem was, the gateway to Roguetown opened and it's Regulator Sheriff Arthur Kaine made his way towards the Scavenger.

Arthur Kaine was a strong faced individual who wore his Regulator uniform with pride. Several decades older than the Scavenger, everything about Kaine seemed to make the Scavenger's skin crawl as he pulled away from him upon opening the gate. "Now, now, ain't no need to be acting all scared. We weren't expectin' to see ya so soon." The gray hairs on his rough pale skin stood up as Kaine walked closer and closer to the Scavenger.

Before he could reach the Scavenger however, a loud and very ecstatic voice was heard behind him. "Scav!?" The voice screamed loud enough that both the Scavenger and Arthur knew who it was. Hadrian Kaine was the deputy of Rougetown and the son of a very embarrased Arthur Kaine. Though also a member of the Regulators, Hadrian was a bit more outgoing compared to his father. Was a bit of an issue when it came to him being friends with the Scavenger.

"Oh my God. We'd heard so much about you recently. Are you ok?" Jericho ever the talkative individual wouldn't even let either one of the other men get a word in edge wise. "Mayor Richard will be happy to see you too!" Before he could finish speaking Arthur turned to his son and spoke. "Hadrian, aren't you suppose to be down a the river front, checking on the Mirelurk investigation?" With a sour face Hadrian turned away knowing that he wasn't really wanted here. "Ok dad. When you get a chance Scav, can you please come check in at the PD? Got alot of things that could use your help." The Scavenger agreed and shook his head singaling as such before watching Hadrian run off.

"Sorry about that, you know how that boy is about seeing people these days." Arthur paused for a moment rubbing his temples. "Mayor's been wondering when you'd be coming through here. Been needing to talk to you about a few things." The Scavenger didn't really question what or why, considering the situation he must have been in. The Mr. Handy were clearly broken, the flash that almost killed him must have shown all the way to Rougetown, and whoever did that to him must have been on their way here.

As the two men walked through Roguetown everything felt like the Scavenger had come to expect of the place. There were a few people here and there and clothes a bit too fancy for where they were living. A fine pinstriped suit here, and a fancy long dress with an over-sized hat there, everyone in Roguetown was always drinking the finest Nuka-Cola. Everyone who turned to the Scavenger looked down their nose as if he wasn't even worth their time.

The town hall building was where the Mayor spent most of his time in Roguetown simply because the local Police Force were attached to the building. Everyone knew that the people of Roguetown were cowards, and no one embodied that more than Mayor Ricard. An overweight individual with a balding head and a series of cheap suits. Everything about him made the Scavenger's stomach turn.

"We'd heard a few reports about the Zug Lands being in some serious danger. Mayor Richard's been waiting for you to come through here." Arthur continued making small talk, while the Scavenger wasn't really trying his best to indulge him. The two mostly walked through the city in some horribly awkward silence until they reached the town hall.

The officers at the town hall didn't seem too talkative or happy about seeing the Scavenger. The only time any of them even moved towards him was to request that he remove his weapons. A request they quickly took back upon seeing the single bright green eye of the robot that was on his back. "Robo-Bu-d-d-d-dEEEEEE" The robot screamed louder as the men walked closer to him.

Both Arthur and the Scavenger felt a bit uneasy entering into the Mayor's office as they heard smacking and chewing. Everyone who moved through these offices on a daily basis knew that either he was smacking on his signature Squirrel on a stick or chewing his Pigeon-Rat Broth. Either way neither were as appetizing as they sounded.

Opening the door Arthur removed his Regulator hat and moved in before the Scavenger speaking up. "Mayor Richard, we've got ourselves a guest." The two men entered the room to see Mayor Richard eating his signature Pigeon-Rat Broth. The stench was enough to almost drop the Scavenger off his feet, but he had a sense of professionalism to maintain. "Mayor." Scavenger spoke up nodding to the mayor.

Richard didn't even bother to look up from his bowl of thick disgusting bits and pieces. He continued to slurp the vile mixture without a care in the world. "Well if it isn't our little Vulture." The Scavenger's neck felt a bit stiff from the use of the word 'Vulture'. There were many people who used the term 'Vulture' when speaking to him, but the Mayor wasn't one of them. The term felt detached and very unprofessional. Feeling a bit uneasy considering all that happened to him recently, the Scavenger wasn't quite his nice self. "Good to see you eating like a King still Dick."

Arthur let out a bit of a laugh watching Mayor Richard fumble his bowl over onto the ground in shock, almost choking on it's contents. "You punk. I never did care much for you..." He spoke wiping away at his chin and standing up, nodding towards the door. "You know that the people of Roguetown are a quiet little group. We're happy for the help you gave us over the years... but I can't exactly say I care to much." As he continued to talk several of the police officers came into the room with their pistols drawn.

"GQF must go. Those are the rules of Roguetown. Ghouls, Queers, and Freaks aren't allowed here. Can't have that image messing around with us when we're trying to get back on our feet. Don't know which one you are... but so long as we needed your help you've been exempt from any screening or punishment. But you see we met your little friends from the Enclave Remnants before they went to meet you." The Scavenger's ears perked up at the mention of the Enclave. The ghosts of the East that had long since been wiped out at the hands of the Brotherhood of Steel.

Whoever the men that attacked him were apparently with this group. Unfortunately before he could even go on pushing the matter, the Scavenger felt a pistol edge pointing in his back. "They said you had some Telios Core or something they were looking for. Threatened to burn the entire city to the ground if we didn't help them find it. Now... I don't know if they found it or not, but if they didn't I would like to have you here as some form of insurance when they come back... No hard feelings. But you know what they say about you Scavenger's anyway. The only difference between you and a Raider is timing."


	3. Escape to the Ecorse

The Scavenger had a few witty comebacks that were lost at the barrel of the guns he'd had pointed at him. Stripped of all but his clothes and his pip-boy, upon being thrown into the cell he felt a surge of hatred towards the entire city of Roguetown.

The town was a bit of a high end piece of hell that looked down on everyone who didn't pretend like they were fancy and famous. Poor folks were forced to do the worst jobs for simply safety and a place to live. And everyone else was locked away and tossed out to fend for themselves in this hellish world. GQF must go. Ghouls made the town look bad and were seen as second class citizens, those who became ghouls or showed the first signs of ghoulficiation were shipped off to the Downlands. Queers or people who couldn't reproduce weren't of any use to the town, they were kicked out of the town after a less than fair trial which the Scavenger only bore withness to once. It was something he didn't exactly care much about.

'Freaks' were what the Scavenger was being held with all of a sudden. Women and men who commited crimes, spoke out a bit too much, or weren't quite 'all there'. The Scavenger was now kept in this place with a broken robot he'd been dragging with him, and an elderly lady crying about needing to find her son. The cries and moans of the Roguetown cells were something that everyone grew to fear. The cells were located beneath the Police House and were so secluded that barely any sound came out.

It was night now, a single grunt was all that could be heard throughout the area. Upon looking down his cell the Scavenger was shocked to find Hadrian holding onto his weapons and the keys to the cell. "I'm soooo sorry that this had to happen. My dad and the Mayor didn't tell me anything about this plan to hold you hostage. If I had known..." The Scavenger wasted very little time talking about ifs and buts. The idea of revenge was fresh on his mind, and with very good reason. The mayor knew something about the people who came after him, and he was looking to get answers.

"You have to get out of the city Scav. My father and Mayor Richard contacted the guys who were looking for you. Whatever it was they want from you, they're hell bent on getting it from you." Hadrian handed off the Scavenger's belongings to him before singaling for him to follow. The Scavenger had very little intention on escaping or leaving without getting the information he'd come for.

The Scavenger felt a heavy amount of weight attaching itself onto his arm, dragging him in the opposite direction of the exit. "We're not leaving this way. We have to exit through the sewers, you can get out near Ecorse. That's the closest place near the Zug Lands, and your best bet of finding out if the men you're looking for went through there." Hadrian was quite firm in his grip, and refused to let the Scavenger return to the city.

"My dad is a good man. Please, don't start a war and run the risk of injurying people like him." The idea that he'd have to go through so many people to get what he wanted wasn't sitting well with the Scavenger anyways. Revenge took a great deal of effort and time, and assuming he didn't find what he was looking for in Ecorse, he sure as hell would be making his way back here.

It took the Scavenger two hours of nonstop walking through the disgusting muck and shooting a great deal of radroaches and giant rats for the Scavenger to be free. Despite finding himself coated from the waist down in shit, the Scavenger was in no position to rest just yet. Looking off in the distance there were a few landmarks that he instantly identified on his normal routes.

The former Chicken-Shack which was house to a very large number of raiders that passed themselves off as Scavengers. The group as a whole wasn't exactly threatening and often raided places too far or too small for the law to get bothered with. The number of residents in the place was the main reason no one bothered to check the place out.

The second location was the less than acceptable 'Studio'. A place where a few of the unfortunate souls who were kicked out of Roguetown. The Studio constantly supplied Roguetown with materials and things they needed when the city was running low on things. In exchange the men who were considered 'freaks' in the eyes of Roguetown took husbands and wives from the people Roguetown didn't want.

The remains of Ecorse's main land were poorly defended and housed in some old strip area. It had a makeshift gate, but ultimately wasn't much compared to Roguetown. The only noticeable defense was a large number of turrets sitting around the entrance. Considering how late it was into the night, there was a chance the Scavenger was going to catch a few bullets thrown in his direction.

The last place he saw was the Boathouse. People didn't go to the Boathouse anymore.

Dragging his feet towards the entrance of Ecorse, the Scavenger noticed he'd reach the city limits upon seeing several of the turret's guns turning towards him. The few guns that were loaded with energy cells did a good job of lighting up and doing their little threatening showcase, while the few that weren't suddenly began to smoke and spin at a high rate. "Identify yourself." Some poor soul who was on watch spoke up stopping the Scavenger from advancing.

Without moving another inch the Scavenger put his hands up and responded. "Trading. Repairs." As if use to having heard the same tone and the same voice, the gatewatcher looked up from behind a series of rubble with his crossed eyes. "Ah? Scavenger? Should have just said it was you. We'll let you in right away." The door to Ecorse was opened and with it the Scavenger could feel his heavy heart weakening from the fatigue he'd carried with him.

Upon entering the darkened town the only thing the Scavenger could think of was finding a place to rest his head. The people of Ecorse kept to themselves, so once anyone got inside of the gates everyone didn't have to worry about answering too many questions. Was perhaps one of the few things the Scavenger truly enjoyed. It wasn't until he reached the entrance to the small two rooms that were used as the hotel did he even get noticed.

"Who the hell is that at this time of day?" An elderly lady pulled up barely able to see anything in her thick reading glasses. "Sorry Missus Scarlet. Didn't mean to bother you... but I need a room for the night?" The Scavenger spoke watching the older lady move closer to him with her dry gray hair. "Erin? Is that you Erin? It's been so long..." The old lady walked to him and gave him a warm and accepting hug. Miss Scarlet was a nice old lady who lost her head some time ago. She believed the Scavenger was her son-in-law by the name of Erin. Whenever the Scavenger came to hotel he always felt like he was at home.

Miss Scarlet wasn't too worried about the details of what happened when she prepared a small bed for the Scavenger. He wasn't exactly trying to listen to anything she was talking about. As he stumbled into bed with his rifles still strapped to him, with the small robot attached to his back the Scavenger drifted off to sleep with the elderly lady still talking away about something from her past.


	4. Meeting the Fire Runners

Waking up the next morning the Scavenger spent a great deal of time attempting to fix the robot that had been on his back. Wondering about all that had happened just the day before, not even the offer of Frosted-Checkers breakfast cereal was enough for the Scavenger to get out of bed. Aside from the random passer bys and Miss Scarlet checking in on him every once in a while, the Scavenger was fine to dissect the little robot from head to toe.

Unlike the previous Protectron and Mister Gutsy he'd dealt with, this robot had been missing far more complex parts than the others. Some had scrap metals, others had used energy cells as their primary power source. This little guy seemed to have some small ball of electricty that protected something in the middle of the machine that acted like a heart almost.

Attempting to touch the mechanism, the Scavenger was given a nice sized electrictal shock which was just enough for him to understand it's function. Deciding to stop fiddling with the robot after having fixed at least two of it's operating eyes so that the machine could observe things better.

While fixing the voicing mechanism on the machine The Scavenger was interrupted by a sudden knocking at the door. A rough and thick voice came through the door, trying to sound as smoothing as possible. "Hey. You there Scab?" The Scavenger knew all too well who had been calling for him on the other side of the door. "Come in. Elie."

A decaying figure walked into the room with a loose fitting jacket on with a nice short skirt on. Her face was falling apart or missing in pieces, but ultimately she had a very unique appearance with her lips appearing much smaller than most. "It's been a while." The ghoulish figure leaned in through the door.

The Scavenger closed the back of the machine he'd been tickering with and stood up to meet the lady. "Not long enough." The Scavenger responded before being pushed down to his bed by the ghoul. "You know you're the only guy around here who prefers playing around with ghouls." The lady spoke up before slowly climbing on top of the Scavenger.

"Miss Elaine, I do believe you're flirting with me." The Scavenger spoke in a joking tone. As if they'd done this numerous times, Elaine slowly rubbed her decaying face against the Scavenger's own before speaking again. "You're really cute when you're squirming." She spoke as she licked the side of the Scavenger's face and the two disappeared beneath the sheets.

It was nine hours time according to his pip-boy when the two finished exploring one another's bodies. As they lay in the bed looking up at the ceiling the Scavenger and Elaine both sat there in silence. It wasn't until the ghoul of the two stood and stretched before laying on the Scavenger's chest. "You're pretty stressed for today kid. Something happen?" The Scavenger simply redressed himself without saying a word.

"It has to do with that bounty put out by Roguetown doesn't it?" Elaine spoke watching as the Scavenger stopped just short of putting on his jacket. "I'm listening." The Scavenger spoke as he listened to Elaine explain the bounty on his head for 'reckless endangerment' and several counts of assault.

After listening to her explaination, the Scavenger simply sat wondering what he should do next. It wasn't until Elaine pushed open the door to leave after she'd finished dressing that the two exchanged anymore words.

"I heard that C-Raiders are preparing to make good on the bounty by running through the nearby towns looking for you. I would say that you've got about a few hours left before they start poking around here." Elaine left the room leaving the Scavenger to sit and wonder to himself.

Upon finishing the patch-work of the small little orb robot he'd been working on, The Scavenger strolled through upper Ecorse checking out all the areas he could. A few odds and ends here and there, the conversations about rumors running amok between the Downlands and Ecorse.

Settling all accounts with Scarlett, The Scavenger prepared to go to the only person in Ecorse who would have the information he might need. In the abondoned 9th Precinct the arms dealers and bodyguards of the city were quite happy to see the Scavenger. Each of armed men did their job of checking him before he entered, and upon his arrival The Scavenger was greeted by the owner of the place.

"Welcome Rust-Walker." A fair skinned older man emerged wearing a nice head full of different colored feathers attached to his head. "It has been far too long." The man bowed to him before slowly returning to a single chair positioned behind the thick bulletproof glass.

"It has been several months since you've come through here. Have you come seeking wisdom of weapons and arms? Or have you brought more material to trade with?" The Scavenger spoke up causing for everyone in the room to suddenly become much more scared. "I'm here to see Watcher."

The brown skinned man sitting at the throne slowly widened his eyes before turning to look directly at The Scavenger. "Rust-Walker... to see the all father is something not to be taken lightly." Unfortunately the Scavenger was already moving towards the door that led to the upper stairs only to have been caught off by two armed men. "I need to see the Watcher. I'm going to see him Running-Fire. Either you can accept that, or you can consider yourself cut off from my supplies."

The man known as Running-Fire waved the guards off as he slowly fell deeper into his chair. His face filled with disappointment and a bit of sorrow. Making his way up the stairs, the Scavenger was struck by a strong and overbearing scent. Attempting to regain his composure while walking up the stairs, the Scavenger was frozen in his tracks at the image of the frail older man sitting in a large oversized bed.

"I have seen you would come for me. Rust-Walker." Watcher-of-Valleies said in a weakening voice. The aging Watcher was the All Father to the men who worked at the Fire bringers, the weapons shop which they were current residing in. "You are here to find the Steel-men in an attempt to have your vengenace."

The story as far as The Scavenger had known was that while journeying from the West after something happened, Watcher-of-Vallies was found by Elaine who was also heading from the West. Over the course Watcher managed to pick up several other people who joined them in their journey from the West. Watcher married someone from his old tribe and the two had several children. Though Running-Fire was the last to stay with him, his children spread over the Wastes telling the tales of the 'Watcher-of-Vallies'.

None of that truly mattered to the Scavenger however. When he first arrived to trade with the people of Ecorse, Watcher-of-Vallies was the first person he'd met and spoken too. There were rumors that he had the ability to 'see' things that normal people couldn't. When the two first met the Watcher was the one who foretold of the Green Falls infecting the waters near the Zug Lands. Since then, the people of both Roguetown and it's surroundings tend to leave Ecorse alone.

"I need to find out where they went. Nothing more." The Scavenger spoke clearly attempting to avoid any long and drawn out conversation. Everything about Watcher was long and drawn out. Wasting time no one had on things no one cared about.

"The Steel-men came searching for a core that could not be found, a vein that could not be understood, and a thought that could not be put together." Each of the men in the room exchanged glances at one another, waiting for the other to speak. As no words left Scavenger's mouth Watcher took that as a sign. "The Core resides at their home. The vein at hand's end. The thought at the point where Cedar's form."

The Scavenger stood attempting to leave at the place and idea of speaking with someone who only spoke in riddles. As he turned to leave the room Watcher-of-Vallies spoke up. "The raiders will come searching for you... It is best to find them first." The Scavenger nodded before taking his leave.

At the bottom of the stairs, Running-Fire stood waiting for the Scavenger to come down the stairs with a straight face. "I hope you earned what you deserve in your meeting with the all father." The Scavenger felt a bit of sarcasm in Running-Fires words, and tried his best to ignore them. Had Running-Fire not spoken up the Scavenger wouldn't have had any reason to listen to him any further.

"There has been someone at the front gate screaming for the past hour or so... He wears the clothe of the regulators says he's looking for you." The Scavenger hurried out of the building attempting to get to the gate's entrance.

As the Scavenger rushed to the gate and watched it open, he could only see the image of a bloodied Arthur Kaine dragging himself towards the gate screaming. "Help my boy... please..." He said just moments before fainting.


	5. Everything goes down at the Studio

Scarlet gave one of the best rooms in the place to Arthur. Elaine offered to have her best doctor come and watch him, while she and the Scavenger snuck off to have a bit of late night delight. Around eleven at night the Scavenger emerged just as Elaine's assistants finally calmed and stablized. His eyes were slightly open, and his voice was low and quiet.

"Hadrian..." He spoke up trying to whisper what little words he could to the Scavenger. "Mayor gave him away..." His breaths continued to grow weaker and weaker with each passing second. "Studio..." He finished speaking just in time to pass out.

Miss Scarlet almost screamed her head off at the idea of seeing a man pass out dead. Elaine reassured her that Arthur had simply passed out due to fatigue. Elaine, Running-Fire, and Miss Scarlet all turned to the Scavenger wondering exactly what would happen next. "His child. Is he a member of the Studio?" Elaine asked in a fearful voice.

As he turned to leave the room, the Scavenger gave a hurried reply. "No. But he's been taken by them." The Scavenger finished as he returned to his room in preparations to head to the Studio.

"You intend to fight the entire Studio. To go and get the child of a man who was against you." Running-Fire's voice emerged from around the corner, slowly rubbing onto his chin as if he was truly confused. "Why would you do such a thing Rust-Walker?" He watched as the Scavenger packed his belongings.

"If it weren't for his son. The Mayor of Rougetown would have turned me over to those Encaved Remains or whatever thier name was. He saved me. I will return the favor." The Scavenger spoke as he finished fastening his guns onto his back preparing to leave.

"The All father believes your destiny lies elsewhere than around here. Do not stain the All Father by passing away on your journey to the Studio." Running-Fire finished as he exited the room and returned back to where he'd come from.

Rounding up all his belongings and leaving for the front gate, Scarlet was the only person who was there to see him off. It was far too late into the night for anyone to stay up on his behalf. The Scavenger liked the idea of sneaking off in the middle of the night while everyone else was sleep.

As the rusted gate of Ecorse opened and the Scavenger looked back to the city feeling a bit uneasy. If these people were hell bent on getting something from the Scavenger and he had no idea what it was, there was an even greater chance that they'd come here looking for him. And until he found out who or what that thing was that destroyed most of the Zug Lands, no place would be safe.

By the time the rusty gates of Ecorse finally closed The Scavenger was halfway to the Studio when he noticed a herd of sick looking Brahamin. The 'Bile Brahmin' as they were known around these parts where a fair indicator that someone was going into the Studio's territory.

This was exceedingly difficult for The Scavenger who's only interaction with these guys was telling them no whenever they asked for random devices to help 'control' their captives. One of the heavier Brahmin of the herd slowly walked towards the Scavenger attempting to run into.

In a brief second, the Scavenger pulled for his jury-rigged Zap Glove he'd made using leftover parts and pieces he'd found messing around with the little robot he'd been dragging around with him. A single touch of glove's backhand struck the large beast stunning him and knocking him out in an instant. Unfortunately due to the poorly regulated electricty, The Scavenger caught a great deal of electricty thrown back at him.

The Scavenger felt a dense electrical shock running down his arm, and in a matter of seconds he passed out. The amount of time he'd passed must have been longer than the Scavenger had expected, since when he opened his eyes there was already a nice amount of sunlight in the sky.

Perhaps the most noteworthy indicator that a great deal of time had passed was one of the 'Bouncers' of the studio was standing over The Scavenger as a shadow. "No idea who this scrabber is... Prolly some poor soul came here lookin for a new start... Naw he doesn't look like much of a castout from Rogue. Hold on..." The voice continued to go in and out as the figure slowly kneeled down checking to see if The Scavenger was up and able.

Wasting very little time to see what the bouncer was doing, the Scavenger quickly reached up his hand still wearing the Zapper and placed it against the chest of the man. "What the?" Before the bouncer could even finish speaking a strong electrical charge went straight through both men, causing for one of them to fall over.

As the Scavenger stood to his feet, he heard another voice coming from the bouncer's ear. "What the hell is that?" The hidden piece on the man's ear began to speak up. Reaching down and grabbing ahold of the piece of plastic, the Scavenger began to look closer at the object.

Whatever the device was, it was a piece of intense technology far beyond the knowledge of the men and women of the Studio. Though some of the pieces could be made out, The Scavenger was truly confused as to what everything else was. "Ah, fuck. We need someone outside to check on this guy. He might have passed out again from huffin Chems or Chewin' After Burner." The man in the ear piece spoke to someone else who sounded as if they were preparing to head out.

The Scavenger quickly stood to his feet regaining his composure. Just inches away from his head was the knocked out bouncer face down in a pile of Brahmin waste. Counting his blessing, the Scavenger picked up his belongings and hid off to the side of the building.

Trying to regain his composure while hugging the side of the building, the Scavenger tried to remember exactly what the layout of the Studio was. Aside from the first floor the only things that were programed into his Pip-boy said was that there were a total of three levels. The second floor was a well known spot for lookouts and where the boss of the place known as Overton.

Overton had a disgusting little love nest that made the raiders around these parts look like a holy ground. He'd rape, starve, and destroy the captives he took in that he took an interest to. Rumor was that he took the top floor of the place so he could watch the victims he broke slowly die in the wastes in the distance. There wasn't anything good that was known about Overton.

As the front door of the building opened and two other men came out to check on their friends, each of the men looked around surveying the area. One carried a large wooden plank in the same dusty suit as the rest of the bouncer. His friend with the small pistol crouched down to the ground as they walked out onto the field seeing if they saw someone.

"Hey Brownie... ya there?" The one with the pistol said crotching down lower aiming his pistol around. Feeling on his back for the small orb robot he'd been dragging with him. Tossing the orb several yards away from him, the Scavenger watched as the green eyed robot began to screech loudly as he struck the ground several times. "YAAAAAEEEEEEEHHHAAAAA!" The machine screamed causing for the two men that had come outside to check on it.

"What the hell was that?" The one with the board spoke as he rushed over towards the orb preparing to attack. However, before either of the men could notice what was going on a low humming noise was cutting through the gun hand of the smaller one. A single red light cut through his wrist and left just a bloodied stump in it's place.

The fear and pain the smaller bouncer felt were both lost in the shot from the second laser rifle which shot through his chest. Falling to the ground with a heavy thud, the larger of the two turned to see a bright red laser coming directly towards his eye. Quickly grabbing ahold of it in pain the bouncer caught another series of shots aimed at his torso before dying.

"Helphelphelphelphelphelp!?" The robot managed to squeak out through all of the static. He'd been spitting out the same phrase as fast as he could, until the Scavenger walked over to retrieve him. The robot calmed himself greatly once he was fasten back to the pack of the Scavenger. For what little he couldn't find out about the machine, the Scavenger realized he did a great job of screaming and asking for help loud enough to be a distraction.

Checking the bouncer's for something of worth, the Scavenger came across several bullets for the 9mm one of them had been carrying. The larger of the two had a few chems on him, mostly a couple of mentats. Finallizing his search, the Scavenger dragged the bodies into the Brahmin pin and left them there.

With the front door open and no one in sight, the Scavenger tried his best to sneak into the building by lowering himself closer to the ground. The weight of the weapons on his back, in combination to his already weakening state due to his lack of rest, left the Scavenger in a great deal of pain.

Moving through the first floor, the only thing of worth that he'd manage to come across was a single piece of paper with 'sign-ins' showing the men and women who'd come through to enjoy the captives of the Studio. Though many of the names were residents of the surrounding areas, none of them had any real interest to the Scavenger except Mayor Richard 'Dick' Robinson.

Chances are Dick realized that Hadrian helped set him free and sent him to the Studio. As a regulator, there wasn't much that the law could do to Hadrian. So the best thing they could have done as punishment was simply sending the kid to the Studio. It didn't hurt that the kid was a closet case who spent all his free time flirting with the Scavenger.

Chances are Arthur knew his son was a bit on the queer side, with his whole weird personality and everything. Whenever there was a need for a delivery or message being sent to the Zug Lands Hadrian was always the first to run and go. It took the Scavenger all of two meetings with the boy to realize what he was. When he was living in the West, before coming to Rougetown or the Zug lands, the Scavenger had come across a large number of people like Hadrian. The only problem the Scavenger saw with them was that they were unfortunate enough to had been born into such a messed up world.

Tossing aside the paper with the names on it, the Scavenger attempted to sneak into the next room which had it's lock blown off by some large weapon. Peering into the back of the room the Scavenger noticed a great deal of blood on the floor, next to some corpse of a young lady dressed in what looked like a pin-striped suit.

Whatever happened to her clearly wasn't anything nice considering what he'd heard about this place. The bullet wound in the ladies neck seemed like it'd been there for some time. Unfortunately, due to his lack of expertise when it came to medcine and such, all the Scavenger could do was look around the room in hopes of finding something or use.

A single nametag labeled 'Jean' was placed onto the chest of the corpse. With her eyes still open and a single thing of jet still attached to her arm, the Scavenger knew her story all too well. The few men and women who escaped from the Studio who weren't too strung out to speak, had been checked up on by Elaine. She'd tell the Scavenger about how the Studio's bouncers seemed to get off on tourturing and beating on others while keeping them strung out on chems.

The Psycho in her arm looked like it was glowing a brillant blue color, letting the Scavenger know that it still had it's potentcy. The Scavenger took ahold of the Psycho placing it onto one of his sacks before hearing a voice coming down the stairs. "Yeah, those three are probably outside dicking around. Let me get in a quick five seconds with Jean, then I'll gladly go outside and get those guys."

It took the Scavenger a total of seconds to put two and two together to understand the situation he'd been thrown into. The corpse next to him suddenly started to look a whole lot sadder as the Scavenger hid behind the door while hearing a series of foot steps walking towards him.

As the large bouncer pushed open the door and slowly took in a deep breath, he seemed more like an animal about to mark his territory instead of a man. Unbuckling his pants the large man leaned in towards the corpse only to stop upon noticing something. "Where the hell is it?" The guy said before looking around the arm of the corpse where the Psycho had been injected. "Which one of these assholes removed my Psycho? How the fuck is a guy suppose to get off in this kind of a hellhole?"

Before the man could even pull up his pants, the Scavenger placed the 9mm pistol he'd retrieved from outside against the back of the man's head. The bouncer instantly realized the situation he was in, as he froze before whimpering. "Come on man..." The guy tried his best not to cry at the thought of his situation. "She was dead when I found her man... I mean look, if you leave now I'll pretend like none of this happened. It's not like you can get out." The bouncer was talking a mile a minute.

He was a scumbag who worked for some of the worst men he'd ever seen in his entire life. But the guy was right about the Scavenger not being able to get out. As much as he wanted to, the Scavenger didn't have the luxury of blowing this guys brains in.

Pulling for the Psycho he'd had just retrieved, the Scavenger quickly stabbed the enlarged needle into the neck of the man. Having no real knowledge of the human body the Scavenger shook the needle around in the neck of the man hearing his breaths weaken as his throat was destroyed. "Jean sends her regards." The Scavenger spoke before forcefully pulling the psycho needle through the skin of the bouncer's throat.

It was dangerous, stupid, and a waste, but the Scavenger didn't feel right letting the guy go after what they'd done to the dead girl. Moving her body into a better position onto the bed, and rearranging the bouncer's body so it stood up behind the door, the Scavenger slowly left the door trying to make his way up the stairs.

As soon as he hit the stairs the Scavenger was met with the wide and shocked eyes of a younger man dressed as a female standing on the other side of a large table. A man with a headset similar to the one he'd seen outside was sitting at the desk swearing about something or another while going through an old terminal trying to do something to it. The young man shook his head slightly as if trying to signal to the Scavenger about something.

"I swear those guys aren't worth the shit we pay them." The man sitting at the terminal began to yell as the Scavenger tried to sneak closer to him. As the Scavenger almost made his way up the stairs, he noticed a much larger bouncer compared to the ones he'd seen already.

The guard carried a much larger automatic weapon compared to the one's he'd seen so far. It was much more similar to an AK47 than anything, but the armor the man was wearing seemed to be a thicker leather variant. That would make it much more difficult for the Scavenger to take this guy down like he took the others down. Checking his pip-boy the Scavenger realized the V.a.t.s he had left weren't enough to really help him either. After the incident he pulled outside he didn't have the accuracy to hit a brahmin at point blank range.

The large tanned skin man in the armor noticed the man dressed as a woman who'd been signalling to the Scavenger. "What this little fag doing? Did ya order him to spaz out or something?" He asked as he tightly grabbed ahold of the young man's privates causing for the man to squeal underneath his breath.

"Naw, he's prolly freaking out because his four playmates for the day are dicking around outside. Try not to break the guy's pack either. We ain't got the Med-X to make up for him getting injured." The Large man let go of the younger boy before striking him in the stomach causing for him to buckle over. "Yeah, I guess. Let me go see what these idiots are doing downstairs." The large man spoke heading towards the stairs.

Before he could even see what was coming at him, the large bouncer caught two heavy shots to his chest area from the 9mm that the Scavenger had been carrying. Both shots were heavy and connected well, but as the large man stood up aiming his gun at the Scavenger he knew he'd made a mistake. A large series of bullets ripped through the crumbling wall of the Studio trying to flush the Scavenger out of hiding.

As one of the bullets managed to hit the Scavenger in the forearm, he let out a loud scream before trying to sneak a peek around the corner. "Hurry and get him damnit!" The man with the headset said before hiding underneath his desk. The large man moved closer and closer with each step, the shadow of his assault rifle inching closer and closer.

"You're fucked now punk!" He said just before his voice was suddenly drowned out by a series of gargles. As he turned the corner trying to get a clear shot at the large man, the Scavenger saw the crossdressed young man whom was just on the ground beaten and bruised suddenly on the back of the larger man chocking him to the best of his abilities. The two were wrestling it out for some time, as the Scavenger tried to get a clear shot at the large bouncer.

"DO IT!" The man in womens clothing screamed at the top of his lungs. Pulling the trigger several times, each shot drilled into the body of the large man causing for him to stumble and fall face first. The man on his back suddenly fell off breathing heavily, while the man working the table simply fell over onto the ground terrified. "Thank you so much." The man who had just assisted the Scavenger spoke.

Before he could accept his thanks however, the Scavenger had something else to deal with. Taking the 9mm pistol and placing it against the back of the giant's head, the Scavenger pulled the trigger until the pistol sounded empty. Tossing aside the pistol and picking up the AK47 that the bouncer had been carrying.

"Ummm thanks for tha-" The man was cut off by the sudden sound of the AK47 being fired several times at the table that the other bouncer had been hiding beneath. The other bouncer who'd had the earpiece hopped from beneath the table holding onto his arm in tears. "Look man. I didn't even want to work for these guys! I swear, I wanted to just pay you off. They kept calling you that crazy fuck who lived in the junkyard! Please man, please let me live!"

Feeling little to no sympathy for the man, the Scavenger took aim at the man's leg and pulled the trigger letting loose a series of shots crippling his left leg. "Run. If you get far enough before I let the rest of your captives free, then you'll get lucky." The Scavenger and their former captive watched as the guy limped off down the stairs screaming in tears.

Turning back to the man in the dress, the Scavenger nodded to him giving him some sort of sign that he understood. "Please sir. You have to help the rest of the captives here. They are mostly upstairs, but the newer bunch are downstairs with Overton." The Scavenger slowly turned to make his way down stairs knowing that Hadrian was possibly down there.

"You also want to check one of the rooms for a rad-breaker. Radio says there's a Rust Rain coming through here soon. I'll try and get the rest of the captives up here out and somewhere safe before the rain hits." The Scavenger was impressed at the leadership this guy showed, and somewhat felt he needed to assist him. "If you head to the area south of here and try to go to ecorse, the people will allow you to join, granted you'll have to go through a difficult screening process. Think you guys can make it?"

The man stood at full attention while still wearing a town skirt and spoke up in a clear voice. "Yes sir. I was a lieutenant of the GLPD. We got a pretty good shot of getting out before the rust rain hits in about two hours, everything else after that is luck." The man hurried off to the other cells.


	6. All is Rust

Before heading down the stairs and into the basement, the Scavenger had to check the upper levels for other surprises. Much to his disgust the Studio only had a large number of captives kept on the upper level. Roughly twelve men and fifteen women to accomadate the seven or so men who worked as bouncers. Releasing all of them was enough of a feat, trying to find clothes for all of them was simply a challenge.

Most of them thanked the Scavenger before hurrying off out of the building with some thanks while wearing the ragged suits that the bouncers kept in plenty supply. The GLPD lieutenant who the Scavenger found out was named Harvey, did a great job of keeping everyone together and taken care of.

Making his way down stairs, the Scavenger was met with an alarmingly high amount of dried blood on the stairwell. Chances were that whatever happened to the captives down here, many of them tried to escape and a very low number were successful. Holding onto his rifle and readying it, the Scavenger headed dwon stairs seeing several cells that had several captives inside.

The few who weren't too scared to see him walking around with a rifle quickly tossed insults his way. The Scavenger didn't have the time to talk to the people calming them down and reassuring them that they'd be ok. About two women and three men were locked in the basement, none of them seemed to be Hadrian. "Where's Overton?" The Scavenger asked as he watched one of the men in the cage point towards the door at the end of the room. "Interrigation..."

Pushing open the door, the Scavenger was introduced to the sight of a shirtless and bruised Hadrian handcuffed with his hands elevated into the air. Beside him was a single short dark skinned man wearing Hadrian's signature Regulator hat. "Awww come on little baby. Stop being so difficult and I'll let you be one of my private collection..." The man spoke up before trying to move towards Hadrian who responded with a kick towards the short guy.

Unfortunately the kick fell short and the man took an odd rod he'd been holding and made it generate static before striking Hadrian with it. An ungodly scream came from Hadrian, and without letting a second pass the Scavenger pulled for the rifle and took aim at Overton. "OVERTON!" The Scavenger screamed causing for the short dark skinned man to turn in shock.

"Say Cheese." The Scavenger spoke before shooting the short individual several times in the chest as he stood to the side of Hadrian. The small frame of Overtone was shredded in seconds leaving several bright red bullet holes in his torso. Hadrian was barely consicous when he looked up to see the Scavenger covered in dirt and dried blood.

"Scav... you came?" Hadrian laughed trying to keep himself feeling a bit happier about his situation. "Sorry." Hadrian said before passing out.

Going through Overton's pockets, the Scavenger found the remaining keys to the cells and the cuffs that he'd placed on Hadrian. Taking Hadrian down and releasing the other captives, the Scavenger attempted to order them to leave in the same area he'd sent the others to. Unfortunately, most of them scattered off in different directions in the wastes. Sadly they weren't his top priority and he had no real reason to worry about them all too much.

Dragging Hadrian with him the Scavenger noticed that once he was outside, the first body of the bouncer he'd come across and shocked had dissappeared. The Brahmin simply seemed to be eating around the remains of the other men he'd taken care of before. "Sorry dad..." Hadrian spoke in a half dazed as the Scavenger reached Ecorse after a very long and drawn out trek across the wastes of Michigan.

As he reached the entrance to Ecorse, the last of the captives of the Studio were finally getting inside as the rolling red clouds came through the area. Before the gate could be fully closed the Scavenger heard a faint squealing in the area behind him.

Finally remembering that everything was far too quiet for too long, the Scavenger shifted his weight so he could free one of his hands before noticing that he'd lost the little robot he'd been dragging with the whole time. The squealing of the machine was off in a great distance, and it would have taken too much time to drag Hadrian back with him and then go to grab the little robot.

Hurrying himself to the gate where Running-Fire's men were escorting the captives of the Studio inside, many of them stopped upon seeing him arrive. Before they could ask any questions the Scavenger dropped Hadrian off with one of the men who was preparing to block his path. "I need to go and get something." The Scavenger spoke before hurrying back outside of the gate.

As he hurried outside of the gate, the Scavenger heard a loud and very crackled screeching. The rusted gate closed behind the Scavenger as he hurried in an attempt to regain his lost robot pet.

As the crimson colored cloud roamed in, the Scavenger noticed the rain started as thick droplets of golden brown water continued to hit against the ground causing for it to sizzle.

A loud series of beeping noises coming from the robot he'd been looking for grew and grew with each passing second. Until the crackle of thunder the Scavenger had done his best to remain focused. The sudden splutter of dark colored water striking his skin was enough for the Scavenger to quicken his pace in surveying the area.

The rust rain drilled into several pieces of his skin, leaving large red-brown markings on it. The breaking of skin, and the rustlike brusing left behind after it strikes was part of the reason why the painful rolling red clouds were called 'Rust Rain'.

The other reason was shown in the rusted over bones that had been frozen into the dust covered Northern Wastes. In the ribcage of a rusted skeleton, broken slowly decaying from the rust rain, the Scavenger came across the small robot he'd been looking for. Tiny little rust marks were on the robot, symbolzing where it'd been struck with each droplet of rain.

"DANGER!" The robot screamed as a massive bolt of lightening seen, followed by a much heavier downpour of rain. Looking around the Scavenger tried to find some sort of place where he could hide. The massive rain that poured down struck the Scavenger's back causing for the rifle and laser rifle he'd been carrying with him to sound like they were screeching and breaking on his back.

Wasting very little time thinking, the Scavenger threw away the laser rifle on his back. Knowing full well what happened with the Microfusion cells when they were struck with enough of the acidic properties of Rust Rain. Without looking back, the Scavenger heard the sudden whistling and explosion of the laser rifle as the microfusion cells were finally struck.

As the rain grew worse the Scavenger knew he had a very limited amount of time to spend looking for some place to find cover and hide from the incoming storm. Without wasting time, the Scavenger hurried into the closest building near him. Darting towards the place at full speed, the Scavenger barely made it there in time before his arm was covered in bright red rustspots.

"Damn." The Scavenger said underneath his breath as he looked up and noticed the place he'd rushed into wasn't the Studio like he'd thought. In his confused state and fear of being too injured from the Rust rain, the Scavenger had unfortunately stepped foot into the other place aside from the Studio no one stepped foot into.

On the wall plastered right in front of him was a single sign that read "Deep Fried Goodness." With the symbol of a muscular chicken holding onto a bucket of chicken in his arms. The Scavenger felt a hint of fear running down his spine as he turned to see the mohawk headed Raider sitting at the front desk looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "The fucking Scavenger's here!" He screamed at the top of his lungs before pulling for an aluminum bat and rushing towards the Scavenger.


	7. Are you Lonesome Tonight?

A static ridden radio in the corner being pelted by the open hole in the roof of the Chicken Shack was the only noise made. "Are you lonesome to-to-to-to" Kept repeating itself on the radio as three armed gunmen continued to walk around the Scavenger attempting to make sure he was kept well and bound using what few rope they could manage to get ahold of. One of the armed men was carrying the large robot he'd had with him at his time of capture. The radio continued to skip with each pellet of rain that fell through the roof and ate away at it's already weak exterior.

"Shut that damn radio up!" One of the men said as he tried to walk over to the radio reaching for the radio only to realize that the rain was running a bit too fast for him to risk turning it off. "Let it go man. That shit ain't worth you losing an arm over." Another one of the guards joked as the radio suddenly began to screech quite loudly just as the song continued from its frozen state of repeating the to-to-to sound.

The Scavenger's hat was now filled with holes and several rust spots were sitting on his left hand where the rain had struck him. "This guy's worth all those caps?" The third guy in the room said just as he noticed the burns when the Scavenger attempted to hide them inside of the ragged wrists of his jacket. "Damnit, the guy's hit by the rust rain." He said pointing his rifle at the arms of the Scavenger.

His two associates were quick to stand up and assess the wounds around his wrist from a distance in hopes to see nothing. "Holy shit... what if this guy has Rust-Rot?" One of the guys asked as he backed away from the Scavenger while covering his mouth. "Dude, Rust-Rot doesn't do shit unless you touch it… Right?" He turned and asked the third guy hoping to get some answer that would reassure him. The third raider seemed more terrified than the other two when it came to Rust-Rot.

"Shit, I don't know man. Just take him upstairs with the boss and Jewels. That doctor guy we got should be able to fix him up." The third guy from the group quickly unlocked the door to the upper stairs of the Chicken Shack. "Just don't let him sit here with the rest of us man." The other two men firmly grabbed ahold of the Scavenger's arms and lifted him up. As he was led to the upper level of the place, the thin walls made the falling rain sound so much closer. With each step closer to the upper room, the moans and groans of someone could be heard.

Moans and groans that weren't quite the same as those heard by someone in the mix of pain and pleasure that the Scavenger had come to expect throughout the wastes. But a tired and weakening cry that he'd heard from so many people on their deathbeds. With each passing second the breathing and moans of the person came closer and closer until they reached the top floor and opened it revealing a upsetting common sight amongst the men and women who lived surrounding the Great Lakes Wastes.

In the room the Scavenger noticed the image of what appeared to be a female, or what remained of a female, rusted onto an old metallic desk. A large splatter of rust covered the arms and legs of the young woman while her torso and chest were bare and slowly becoming covered in the same scars symbolizing rust-rot was taking the rest of her body. Over her was their boss who had been known throughout the area as Roaster.

Roaster was a big dark skinned man who pretended to be a Scavenger, and burned anyone who questioned him leaving nothing but a pile of ash in his wake. Him and the other raiders had become so well known that it felt out of place for him to be standing over the body of the Rust-Rot infected woman who had become one with the table. "Boss. We found that Scavenger guy… think he might be infected with Rust-Rot so figured we'd better bring him up here so you and the doc could look at him." Without looking up from the table Roaster began to whimper once again before pushing his hand off to the main office of the room.

Quickly tossing the Scavenger into the main office the two guards ran off in hopes of not having to catch the wrath of their boss for lingering too long. Attempting to sit himself up, the Scavenger came across the image of a long pony-tailed red haired middle-aged man wearing thick sunglasses. A large thick mustache sat on his face, and as he turned away from the radio he'd been messing around with just seconds before the Scavenger's arrival. "Are you sorry we drifted apart?" The radio began to sing out while the Scavenger met with the image of the individual before him.

Removing his glasses for a brief moment revealing two very scarred eyes with pale blue pupils on them, his very oddly marked eyes. His eyes met with the thick dark brown eyes of the Scavenger like the two were shocked to see one another. "Scavenger?" The doctor said before moving over from radio looking down upon the bound individual. "Doctore?" The Scavenger struggled to sit up and responded with the same level of confusion to his voice. The two sat in an awkward silence just as the rust rain continued to roar across the area.

"Tell me Scavenger. How have the past few years been treating you?" The red haired Doctore character grinned for a moment before assisting the Scavenger to his feet.


End file.
